A sexpot. She’d called her own granddaughter a sexpot though now I suppose she said it to warn me. I always heard how I needed to make good choices.

So I tried. I tried and tried and tried and here I sit, in a hotel suite paid for by my boss, and I’m still contemplating how I can get him into my room, so I can have a chance with him at least once before I quit and go back home to Cactus.

Have I lost my mind? I worry so much how others will see me, yet I still want Matt. I can’t help it. If people are going to call me a sexpot, a slut, or a tramp, I guess I can go ahead and give them a reason to, right?

Respect yourself. If you don’t, no one else will either.

I need to remember that.

My cell phone buzzes and I glance at it to see a text from Matt.

You in your hotel room?

I sure am, typing up notes just for you, I answer.

No reply, and I stare at the screen of my phone, willing something to appear. When nothing happens, I toss it aside and start typing up my notes again, my eyelids growing heavier with the menial task.

It was bad enough I had to sit through those sessions. Now I’m reliving them by rewriting the notes, reminding me exactly how boring they’d been.

Well, boring to me. Matt would probably find it fascinating since he’s in the business but definitely not me.

My phone dings again, and I grab it.

You should meet me at the Blue Fin Restaurant downstairs in thirty minutes.

Why?

I chew on my fingernail, waiting for his answer. I already had room service for dinner, ordering a delicious pasta dish with shrimp and a salad on the side the moment I got back to the hotel. I’m not even hungry.

I want to take you out to dinner.

The Blue Fin is a gorgeous restaurant in the hotel; I keep peeking in there when I walk by. I’m dying to check it out but not like this.

Staring at my phone’s screen, I contemplate how I should answer. The conference is over for the night. We have one more day tomorrow and then it’s over. Dinner tonight isn’t official business.

It feels personal. Like a date.

I already ate. Didn’t you eat too?

Have dessert then. And the meal they gave us at the keynote was crap. I’m still hungry.

A little sigh escapes me, and I stare out the window again, drinking in the beautiful city view. I should decline. I should stay in my pretty hotel room and type up my messy notes and fall asleep in my deliciously soft bed. A good girl would do that. She wouldn’t be tempted to do something bad, like go out on a dinner date with her boss.

But I never said I was a good girl.

I want to spend time with Matt. I want to go out to dinner with him and stare at his handsome face from across the table. I want to hear him tell me a story, and then I want to tell him a story and make him laugh. I want him to reach across the table and grab my hand, entwining our fingers.

I want it all, and I want it with Matt.

Grabbing my phone, my fingers hover over the keys for a millisecond before I start typing.

You said thirty minutes?

Yep, he replies. We on?

A smile curves my lips as I answer him.

We are definitely on.

Matt

I’M EXHAUSTED. THE jet lag, the running from one session to the next at the conference, the information coming at me from all sides, it’s all depleting my energy. I should’ve just gone to my room, ordered room service and collapsed into a deep, dreamless sleep.

But none of that matters because here I am, waiting for Bryn at the entrance to the Blue Fin, eagerness at seeing her making my stomach jump like a pond full of hyperactive fish. I’ve hardly seen her since we arrived in New York City. We’ve been on separate schedules, meeting up in odd spots, like in the corridor of the event center earlier this afternoon. I’d been rushing by, but I called her name when I noticed her exiting a room.

She’d waved, looking adorable in dark-rinse jeans that fit her sexy legs perfectly, a secretive smile curling those sensual lips.

My cock had literally twitched at seeing her, even for such a fleeting second.

“Hi. Hope I didn’t keep you waiting.”

I turn at the first sound of her sultry voice, smiling when I see Bryn standing before me. She’d changed and is now wearing a sleek, simple long-sleeved black dress that covered pretty much every available inch of her save her face, hands, calves and feet. Yet somehow she still manages to be sensual as hell, what with the way the fabric clings lovingly to her body.

“Miss James. I must say you’re looking extra beautiful this evening.”

Her cheeks color, turning a beautiful shade of pink as she clutches her hands in front of her. “Thank you,” she murmurs, her gaze meeting mine for the briefest second before she lets it drop. “You look good too.”

I’m still in the black trousers I’ve worn all day but changed into a white button-down shirt right after I texted her, wanting to dress up a little bit since I figured the Blue Fin had something of a dress code. I’d planned on going to dinner alone. Well, I told myself that. “Thank you. Ready to be seated?”

When she nods, I lead her to the front desk, requesting a table for two. The hostess grabs two menus and leads us up the floating stainless steel staircase to a semi-private alcove, filled with quiet booths that line the wall and overlook the bright lights of Times Square. A small jazz quartet plays along the opposite wall—soothing, soft music that adds to the hushed atmosphere.

“You’re not hungry?” I ask after the hostess leaves us, flipping open the menu immediately. “I’m starved. Conference chicken and dry rice pilaf doesn’t do much for my appetite.”

She laughs, the sweet sound washing over me, making me yearn. For her. “Sounds awful.”

“It was.” I glance over the entrees, my stomach grumbling at some of the offerings, especially the blue cheese-encrusted filet mignon. “I know what I’m having,” I say, shutting the menu.

“So do I,” she says, closing hers as well, her sparkling gaze meeting mine. She looks extra pretty in the candlelight, and I can smell her. That intoxicating scent of hers that drives me wild. I don’t know if I can withstand it much longer.

“You getting dessert?”

“I think so. I filled up on a pasta dish from room service earlier. It was delicious.” She smiles, a mysterious little curve of her lips that makes me want to discover all of her secrets. She has lots of them. I don’t know much about her, and I wish I did. Seeing her like this, spending time with her, fills me with greed.

I want more. More of Bryn.

“That’s what I should’ve done rather than listening to that guest speaker. He was boring.” I take a sip of my ice water, hoping it’ll cool my suddenly heated skin. Just watching her, how the candle flickering on our table casts her face in a golden glow, I’m mesmerized by how beautiful she is, how at ease she seems to be with me tonight. This is a first. We haven’t felt this comfortable with each other in weeks.

“We should’ve ditched the conference altogether today and explored the city,” Bryn suggests. “I know we’re here to work, but I’ve never been to New York City before.”

“It’s kind of crazy, isn’t it?”

She nods. “I feel like a total hick coming here. Like I want to stop in the middle of the sidewalk and just stare at everything. All the people, the noise, the lights, the smells—I’ve truly never seen anything like it. Cactus has nothing on this place.”

I like it when she talks about her past, which isn’t often enough for my liking. It offers a glimpse into her world that I don’t get to see. She’s a private person, and I can’t blame her but I’m still curious.

The waiter approaches and we order drinks—water for Bryn and a beer for me—plus a crab cake appetizer that I offer to share but she passes on it.